


How it Could Have Happened

by snowspell



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Augments get Free, Khan Character Building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2014-08-16
Packaged: 2018-02-13 09:17:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2145294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowspell/pseuds/snowspell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabbles and unfinished works in the Star Trek Universe. Mostly revolving around Character relationships.  Feel free to prompt me.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. For Want of a Conscious Chp 1: Meet Cute

**Author's Note:**

> Mary meets John when she gets a request for 10 lbs of C4 and a box of tea.

"So are you into antiques or just really want to recreate the Boston tea party?" Mary asked with a sunny grin.

The man she was addressing looked up at her from his position at one of the terminals in the weapons R&D area.  His dark hair was combed back, revealing startlingly blue/green eyes that had an oddly Asian cast to them.  Pale skin stretched over high cheekbones.  Privately she thought that it was a face more accustomed to frowning than smiling.  That frown was firmly in place as he looked at her with one raised brow.

"I'm Mary Finley from logistics."  When this didn't provoke a response she continued a bit awkwardly, "You ordered a box of English breakfast tea and ten pounds of C-4?  It's just a wee bit antiquated...so yeah."  She trailed off under his unbending gaze.  She couldn't believe how awkward a look could make her feel.

"You are having difficulty getting it?" He surmised.

Mary fidgeted, somehow feeling that she had done something wrong, which was absurd because who asked for C-4 anyway?  That stuff went out in the 1990s.  Swallowing nervously she continued, "I-yeah.  I can get it for you but it's going to take a few weeks.  I have to contact some specialists.  Would Semtex work instead?  I can get that quicker."

Khan appraised the woman before him.  She was small, just topping five feet with the cinnamon complexion. (Meso-american ancestry, lips and nose indicate southern central America.)  her black hair was surprisingly long and hung in a thick braid down to her waist. (Most common hair color, dominant trait.) Her defining feature was, without a doubt, her large dark eyes.  They twinkled when she smiled, which seemed to be a constant for her.  "Semtex would be acceptable."

Mary nodded dumbly.  How was this guy so intimidating?  He was just sitting there!  She decided it must be his manner.  He had this odd air about him, as if you were being barely tolerated, the way one might treat a very young child that is interrupting you with something incredibly inane.  She mumbled a farewell before leaving is work station in a hasty retreat.

Two days later found Mary occupied in her favorite new hobby, John watching.  After some digging she had found out that the man's name was John Harrison and she had begun to watch him, trying to figure out why he had floored her.  She noticed that he always ate alone and didn't seem to have any friends at work.  His manner certainly didn't invite others in but he still seemed a bit...lonely maybe?  She hadn't been able to put her finger on it.

He still intimidated the heck out of her but Mary had always been a fan of facing her fears, well most of her fears.  So on Thursday she picked up the box of tea that had come in and marched over to his work station again, "Your tea arrived," she said, placing the box on the edge of the console.  John raised a brow in acknowledgement but didn't look up from his console screen.

Mary waited for a few moments, but when no answer was forthcoming she gamely trundled forward, "I looked through your orders," (Oh god, did that sound as stalkerish as she thought it did?) she said, "You seem to need a lot of specialized items.  I just thought I'd, um, I'd offer, that is if you needed anything come find me.  I can help get it."  There.  She had made her offer of the olive branch.

Khan raised a brow at her offer.  Most people were somewhat put off by him, a condition that he worked hard to maintain.  He didn't want the complication of these people trying to find out about him while he was in the Admiral's power, "Do you make these offers to all members of staff?" he asked a bit scathingly.  Better to stop this...whatever it is, before it started.

"Not exactly, no," she responded slowly, (Tone and cadence indicate uncertainty and guilt.) "But you're not from around here and you don't really talk with your co-workers.  It's just, well, if you want anything from Logistics in a timely manner, you need someone on the inside."

Khan waited to find out what she wanted in return.  When no request was forthcoming he simply nodded and turned back to his work.  Mary walked away, not seeming to take offense at his abruptness.

A week later the Semtex was waiting for him on his desk.  After researching it he was somewhat impressed by her ability to get the antiquated material so quickly.  Carefully slicing into the substance he reflected that Mary was useful and, while uncertain, at least less annoying than the rest of the people at this facility.

 


	2. For Want of a Conscious Chp 2: Coffee & Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mary tries to convince John that coffee is better than tea. They discuss family and plans for the future.  
> John starts to have feelings for Mary. "Oh, this is so inconvenient."

Mary rubbed her face in exhaustion as she headed to the mess to get some coffee.  She had been running her normal inventory check and something in weapons R&D wasn't adding up but she couldn't figure it out.  It was like one of those magic eye puzzles she used to do as a kid.  She just had to stop focusing so hard and the answer would pop out at her. But that didn't mean it was easy.  As she turned the corner she banged into someone coming the other way.  A large, warm hand shot out and caught her arm,  preventing her from falling.  Mary looked up to find John standing ramrod straight and holding her up without a sign of strain.

Mary smiled at her friend as she caught her balance, "Sorry John.  I wasn't looking where I was going."

"So I noticed.  You are not normally so unobservant."

While the rest of their co-workers were put off by John's stiff and exacting nature, Mary had found that she had gotten used to it over the last few weeks.  Being around him pushed her to think more, to analyse the world around her instead of just existing in it.  She often found herself researching an off-hand comment John had made only to come to work tired but with her mind fired by the information she had found.  Being friends with John was a bit like working around a wild animal or an immovable object.  She became aware that he rarely answered her unless he needed information and his eyes narrowed nearly imperceptibly when she asked about something he didn't want to talk about.  It was generally easier to let those topics drop.  Mary shook herself out of her musings to answer his statement.

Mary's smile turned rueful, "Yeah, some weird stuff being ordered recently and I'm trying to figure it out," she took a closer look at John and noticed the minute stress lines at the corners of his eyes and the slight furrow in his brow. "John, you don't look like yourself.  What's wrong?"

John blinked, he was again surprised at this ordinary woman's ability to perceive his mood.  He gave her a tight smile, "Nothing, Mary.  Only work."

Mary reached out and stroked his arm in reassurance before she got a mischievous grin, "How about we ditch work for the rest of the day and I'll take you out for coffee."

Khan gave her a disbelieving look at her choice of words.

Mary rolled her eyes, "Just because you're British doesn't mean you have a patriotic duty to love tea you know.  Come on, I'll try tea and you can have some coffee and complain at me about the awful taste."  When John didn't move Mary took his hand and tugged it gently.  John looked down at their joined hands.  People rarely touched him in this new world but Mary, as in so many other things, seemed to be the exception to this rule.  He allowed her to gently pull him with her and to the main elevator up to the surface.

They emerged into the bright sunlight and Mary tipped her head back, enjoying the feel of it on her skin.  She set a lazy pace as they walked.  John skillfully turned their conversation to Starfleet politics.  Mary's ability to read facial expression was useful as she gave amusing opinions on the foibles of her superior officers.

After a few minutes she turned a curious eye on him, "Did you grow up near the ocean?"

John shook his head, already pulling up the details of his cover in his head, "No, I lived in London."  He wondered if it was even a lie.  He had been moved through several different facilities when he was a child and only knew the locations of a few of them.  For all he knew he might have lived in London, "And where did you grow up?" he asked, turning the conversation away from him.  While he had no problem lying, he preferred not to have to remember the various stories he had spun.

"On Deneb V," she answered, looking up at the sky as if she could see her home-world from here, "I lived there until I was fourteen."

John gave her a subtle inquiring glance as she ushered them into a little cafe and they sat at a table near the window.

"The planet had unexpected seismic activity.  My family died and I came here to live with my Aunt Janice."  She said it quickly and looked out the window as she spoke.

"I also have no blood family.  For me, my crew was my family," John said quietly.  His baritone voice rumbling as he spoke.  He doubted that this small statement would cause him issues.  His cover story included time on a starship and, no doubt, she would assume that is what he referred to and not the crew that currently slept in a hanger deep beneath the earth.  John could sense her reluctance to discuss the issue and let it drop.

Their conversation turned to books and movies.  John was surprised to hear of her love of classic earth movies that he had enjoyed before being locked into the cryotube.  He found himself allowing his cares to move to the back of his mind as he smiled and laughed with Mary, trading movie quotes and reading suggestions.  Mary had absolutely horrendous taste in philosophy and a nearly pathological enjoyment of fantasy novels.  Hours later Mary found herself stifling a yawn, she was shocked to find it was already 21:30, "I'd better head home if I want to be any good for work tomorrow." she said as she stood to leave, "Thanks for coming out with me John.  This was fun."  Impulsively she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around John's neck in a warm hug.

John stilled as her hands ghosted over his neck where it was left bare by his uniform.  Her scent, a combination of warm amber and something spicy, enveloped him as her heat made him feel every point of contact along their bodies.  Without his conscious thought, his arms came up to circle her waist and hold her close for several long minutes.  Mary finally stepped back, her hands trailing down his chest after the embrace and she murmured goodbye again before walking into the darkened streets.

John watched her until she turned the corner, his eyes following the sway of her hips as she walked. He sighed in resignation, "Oh, this is so inconvenient."


	3. For Want of a Conscious Chp 3: Monsters from the past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mary and John keep up their friendship through email and Mary figures out why the strange manifests seem familiar.

          From: Lt. S Finley

          To: Lt. J Harrison

          Memo:

          Can you give me the most popular quote from a 20th century movie?

          -SF-

 

          From: Lt. J Harrison

          To: Lt. S Finley

          Memo:

          I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that.

          -JH-

 

          From: Lt. S Finley

          To: Lt. J Harrison

          Memo:

          Space Odyssey: 2001.  Nice. I remember reading that my great-great grandfather

          consulted on...that's it.  John, you are brilliant!  Got to go.

          -SF-

 

Khan stared down at the message from Mary with a confused frown.  He was most certainly brilliant in comparison to the normal men and women around him but he could not determine what he had said that had provoked the response from Mary.  He considered walking over to her work station to ask but thought better of it.  Marcus already had the lives of his crew in his power.  He didn't need for Marcus to learn of his feelings for the Logistics lieutenant.  Khan turned his attention back to his plans and mentally ran through the list of his crew.  All but twelve had been smuggled into the missiles.  Now all he needed to do was get the last of them hidden away and forge the transfer request to move the missiles to an unused hanger far from Starfleet's main headquarters.  From there he could revive them and have his family back.  His thoughts turned to the fiery redhead in unnatural slumber in one of those missiles and his heart filled with rage.  Once they were safe he would come back for Marcus and allow him to feel the full Savagery that resided in Khan's mind.

Mary flicked her fingers across the screen, pulling up the Manifest list that had so baffled her last week.  It had been the list of chemicals that had seemed familiar. She finally found it and pulled up the list of chemicals being ordered.

Argon

Helium

Hydrogen

Nitrogen

Oxygen

Methane

That was it. When she had first come to earth she had found her Aunt Janice's family tree.  One of the people there sounded familiar, Gregory Fahy.  She researched him and found out he was one of the premier minds in cryonics in the late 20th century.  She had looked through the mountain of family heirlooms that crowded her aunt's house and found his old work books.  With the memory of the quake fresh in her mind she had been unable to sleep more than a couple hours a night and had instead, threw herself into researching this strange ancestor.  That was where she had seen this list before.  It was a partial list of the chemicals he had used in his cryoprotection solution that prevented human tissue from vitrification when being frozen.  It had been used on the first slower than light space travel to ensure the crews could get to their destinations.  Mary sat back and frowned in confusion.  Why would the weapons R&D department need cryonics solution?  it couldn't be weaponized which meant that unless there was some other use for those chemicals in that combination...they had a sleeper somewhere.  She knew of the space applications of her ancestor's work but she also knew of the less savory uses he and the government had put it to, thanks to his nearly pathological need to keep notes.  They had placed criminals in cryonic sleep, they had experimented on patients with terminal diseases after lying to their families about their deaths.  They had even used it to attempt human augmentations.  It had been monstrous.

Mary shied away from the thought that Starfleet could be keeping someone in a cryogenic sleep against their will but cryonics hadn't been used for nearly a hundred years.  She turned back to the console her eyes focused on the screen with it's bureaucratic listing of all requisitions and where they were going...a bread crumb trail.  Glancing around she swiftly maneuvered through the reams of data until she found where the cryonics was...a long range torpedo project that John had worked on several months ago.  She flicked through the requisition forms.  The cryonics solutions had started appearing about a month ago.  With that knowledge Mary methodically made a mess of several shipments, ensuring she would have to stay behind when the others left for the day.

As Khan walked out of the Kelvin Memorial Archives with his guards close behind, he had no idea that deep below his feet Mary was about to discover one of his most closely guarded secrets.

Mary felt herself hunching over in the dim light of the closed down facility.  Each step seemed to echo of the empty walls and she felt as if the meters of earth above her were crushing down on her. She snuck into the weapons R&D areas as quietly as she could and slipped into the missile development area.  The cryonics solution was nowhere in sight.  In fact, the only objects in the room were the completed missiles and the work stations.  she looked at the seven foot long cylinders and swallowed, praying her suspicions were wrong.  She flicked on one of the computers and easily pulled up the schematics of the missile, finding the disarm code.  She moved over to one of the hangers and pulled open the access panel to connect one of the operation terminals.  She punched in the code and cringed at the abnormally loud sound of the hull cracking open and sliding down the top of the missile, revealing it's contents.  Mary let out a strangled gasp as she saw a frozen window displaying a slim Asian woman with chin-length glossy black hair clearly visible in the tinted cryonics solution that kept her in stasis.

Twisting the back of the missile she strained as she pulled the heavy propulsion engine away from the body and let it fall to the floor with a metallic clang.  She wheeled over a cart and carefully maneuvered the cryotube onto the cart before wheeling it across the long empty halls to the medbay.  Her mind turned back to Dr. Fahy's journals and the meticulous descriptions of how to revive a person held in stasis.  rummaging through the medical supplies she pulled out a hypo spray of heart stimulant and went to work.

Hours passed as Mary slowly returned the solution to body temperature before reaching in and inserting a respirator into the woman's mouth.  Finally, near midnight, she pulled the woman from the fluid and injected the stimulant, praying she had done everything right.  Minutes passed and Mary felt the prickle of tears as her hope crumbled.  Then she heard it, a soft inhalation.  She watched as the oxygen bag on the respirator began to deflate and then refill.  The woman was breathing.  Mary jumped up, clapping a hand to her mouth to hold in the whoop of joy that was bubbling up in her.  She carefully removed the respirator and watches as the woman continued to breath.

After a moment her eyes fluttered open.  Her pupils were blown out and unfocused, "Khan?" she slurred out.

"It's okay," Mary reassured, gently stroking the woman's hand, "You're alright now.  I'm Mary.  I'll take care of you."

The woman's eyes flicked up to her but didn't seem to comprehend.  She touched her chest with a shaky finger, "Ashi," she murmured.

She didn't know if Ashi even spoke English and she seemed disoriented but all that Mary could think about was getting her out of the weapons bunker and back to her house on the outskirts of San Francisco.  Nearly an hour later she had tucked Ashi into her guest bed and gratefully dropped into her own bed.  She barely had enough time to thank the gods that it was Friday and she had the entire weekend to figure out what to do with her new house guest.

 


End file.
